May 3, 2005
6:00 p.m. CST
Lonnie Pursley, a white man, is scheduled to be executed by the
state of Texas on May 3, 2005 for the March 1997 murder of Robert
Earl Cook, a white man, in Deer County.
It is alleged that Pursley beat Cook to death on March 28, 1997. At trial, Pursley was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death.
The death penalty is a draconian punitive measure that a has been shown to be overtly capricious and discriminatory, as well as prone to occasional error. Even in the absence of its conflict with morality and these critical flaws, capital punishment ceases to possess any type of substantive benefit over long-term incarceration that could be used to justify its use.
The problem at hand is far deeper than Pursley. Remedying the very
ills that led Pursley to murder should be Texas’ primary concern, not extinguishing his life. Sending Pursley to death will not contribute to the resolution of these issues, nor will it in any way undo his criminal past. By taking the life of Pursley, Texas is merely contributing to a culture of violence that breeds the very type of behavior that it is seeking to prevent through Pursley’s execution. The vicious cycle must stop.
Please write to Gov. Rick Perry and request that he stop the execution
of Lonnie Pursley.
